Geriaviator (#11103),
A hearwarming tale indeed ! I was going to quote the precedent set by Queen Victoria, but see it is in the text of the DM article. It is a charming reminder of the ethics of the 200 year old Raj - British India - to which the passage of 70 years has lent an almost mythological aspect. I saw its dying days, and it was, IMHO, the best thing that ever happened to the subcontinent.
The
PR take on this is, of course, a horror story of Oppressor and Oppressed, but that is a superficial view. The loyalty of the household staff to their Sahib and Memsahib was legendary: it was rewarded by the deep respect they enjoyed in return. This is a shining example of an extreme case of that relationshipn (as a Tamil, "Muthu", would probably have spoken Malayalam).
I wrote a Post long since, ("Search this Thread" cannot find it), but it was of a youg "bearer" (personal servant) to an Army Captain who returned to UK, and did not come back to India for twenty years, then was posted back out as a Colonel to take command of his battalion.
Forewarned in some mysterious way, the now "old" bearer was waiting at the bottom of the gangplank in Bombay, to pick up "his" Sahib's kit and carry on where they left off !
A true story, I believe.
D.